First Time lambing, ewe seems iffy on one of the lambs?

Henetk1100

Exploring the pasture
Joined
Mar 31, 2024
Messages
6
Reaction score
20
Points
21
Hi all šŸ˜Š

First time posting! Just looking for a bit of advice/others thoughts.

Our ewe Rosie lambed for the first time today. The first she had no issues, but the second one was stuck and the vet came out and helped us pull her. At first, Rosie was talking to her and seemed interested. Few hours in, though, and sheā€™s definitely favoring the first born. Sheā€™s letting the second one nurse, and sniffs her - but she rarely ā€œtalksā€ to her like she does the first lamb and didnā€™t respond when second lamb was wandering and called for her. She also didnā€™t seem to clean her up quite as well.

Guess Iā€™m just looking to see what others think on her chances of building a bond or rejecting, is this more common than I know of? For now, since she is not flat out rejecting her and still nursing, Iā€™m not planning on intervening. The vet mentioned it isnā€™t uncommon for an ewe to struggle a bit with bonding if the birth had complications. Iā€™m hoping itā€™s just going to be a bit of a slower bonding process due to that. But I donā€™t want to risk her potentially hurting the second one if she suddenly decides to reject her overnight.

Appreciate everyoneā€™s thoughts and suggestions šŸ˜Š
 

Henetk1100

Exploring the pasture
Joined
Mar 31, 2024
Messages
6
Reaction score
20
Points
21
Hi all!! Thanks so much for the suggestions. Really appreciate the help.

She definitely favors the first born, but she keeps an eye on the second one and always lets her nurse. Sheā€™s been recovering well, and weā€™ve had them all locked in together since birth and that seems to be helping a lot. The lambs also stay close to each other. So while she may play favorites, sheā€™s still taking care of her, which Iā€™m grateful for.

Our 3rd and final ewe lambed yesterday and that one needed to be pulled as well. Heā€™s on the bigger side and the vet thinks his elbows locked in a bit and she just couldnā€™t get him out. But she took right to him and for now *knock on wood* everyone is doing well.

Iā€™ll be honestā€¦ Iā€™m glad lambing season is over for us LOL. It was my first time having ewes lamb and with two getting stuck, my nerves were a bit shot. Just grateful all is going well so far and we have 4 healthy babies.

Once I get these pictures resized so I can attach them, Iā€™ll add here šŸ˜Š
 

Henetk1100

Exploring the pasture
Joined
Mar 31, 2024
Messages
6
Reaction score
20
Points
21
Hi all! Sorry for the delay. Here is a ā€œgroup picā€ of all 4 lambs šŸ˜Š they are fast friends and often running around together.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2294.jpeg
    IMG_2294.jpeg
    311.4 KB · Views: 65

Henetk1100

Exploring the pasture
Joined
Mar 31, 2024
Messages
6
Reaction score
20
Points
21
So everything has been going well but I did notice today our second ewe to give birth doesnā€™t seem like sheā€™s letting her lamb nurse. Sheā€™s been great so far - he just turned two weeks old today. She was having some stomach issues that I figured out was coming from the feed she was on, so I took her off it and sheā€™s getting alfalfa hay whenever she wants it. But sheā€™s been nursing him great since birth.

But today Iā€™ve noticed every time he tries to nurse she moves so he canā€™t. We locked them in together tonight so she canā€™t really move away from him. Is this normal as the lamb ages? These are my first not bottle fed so Iā€™m just not sure if maybe itā€™s normal for her to not let him nurse quite as much? He looks good weight wise and has tons of energy.

TIA šŸ˜Š
 
Top